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Knicks Will Not Sign Iverson

Knicks Will Not Sign Iverson

Nov 20, 2009 10:19 AM EST

The Knicks have decided not to sign Allen Iverson.

The team had been considering whether to add Iverson to the roster after starting the season 2-9. As of Thursday evening, a deal appeared imminent. One source put the percentage likelihood of the Knicks signing Iverson in the high 90's.

Knick owner James Dolan was reportedly hesitant about signing Iverson for the remainder of the season.

dolan is just hesitant because of all the ****ty deals we've had in the recent past and the fact that A.I. was trouble in Memphis. He wants donnie walsh AND D'antoni to sign off on this. They'll take their time, but i am thinking that by the end of the weekend AI WILL be a KNICK.

D'amnphony.

The worst coach in the game, does not wanna look like an ass by signing Iverson to do what he thought his genius would help Duhon do. And he's makin too much money to upset him. donnie wanted Steph to at least play his last year, d'amphony said no. He probably did the same for AI.

They dont care about the fans. Team is crap, and no one is signing here. The will blow all that cap space on second tier players and then we'll watc0h the Jazz get the #1 pick.

dam I Wanted Iverson We Need Him Now Dantoni Probably Said No Cause He Might Take ****ty Ass Duhon Spot **** Duhon He Will Never Be **** I Hate The Way He Plays Hes To Slow Hes Not Aggresive He Cant Shot He Has No Defense He Barely Got Any Court Vision Iverson Gots All That And Could Take Over A Game I Hate This Move Not To Sign Iverson.

Dumb move IMO because it doesn't affect the 2010 plan and you wanna keep the fans interested. I guess they figured he was going to disrupt the great chemistry they have going on right now lol. I bet if they lost that game on Wednesday he would be here. They must feel they're turning the corner or something.

Dumb move IMO because it doesn't affect the 2010 plan and you wanna keep the fans interested. I guess they figured he was going to disrupt the great chemistry they have going on right now lol. I bet if they lost that game on Wednesday he would be here. They must feel they're turning the corner or something.

This is proof that this season means NOTHING to Knicks management.

The plan too.If they do as bad as usual it might be hard to convince somebody to sign with us.

GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) The New York Knicks have decided not to pursue Allen Iverson.

Team president Donnie Walsh said Friday the team won't make any additions at this time despite its 2-9 record. He added the decision to pass on the former MVP had nothing to do with Iverson's ability to play.

"I've always admired him," Walsh said. "I think he'd be a great addition for a team that's in a different position than we're in and I hope he gets picked up."

Iverson was waived by the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday and became a free agent Thursday night. Walsh said he didn't feel Iverson was the right fit at the beginning, but began to think otherwise because it's "enticing to think that you can get a guy that can score the ball that way."

But the Knicks remain committed to building with young players such as Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, and felt a player who shoots as much as Iverson could hinder that.

"We feel like that could hurt our development in the future, so we want to go the way we're going," Walsh said. "There will be other things we can do during the year that will be more in line with what our philosophy has been entering into this."

I'm not very disappointed with not signing AI. But what bothers me is that Donnie said he won't make any additions and wants to build around Chandler and Gallo. Building around Chandler will only lead to many, many more losses.

He's got a one-track mind right now. It's all about next year. I doubt he'll even look into Ellis or Paul. The 2010 plan needs to be adjusted a little. Lebron (or any max free agent) is not coming here in 2010 and we'll be left with the scraps or resigning all of our players again and having the same team next year.

Walsh explains Knicks' pass on Iverson
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By Chris Sheridan
ESPN.com
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GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Allen Iverson will not be the answer for the New York Knicks, who decided bringing the four-time NBA scoring champion aboard would be at odds with the franchise's long-term rebuilding plans.

Iverson
The decision was reached late Thursday night after discussions between team president Donnie Walsh, coach Mike D'Antoni and owner James Dolan.

"It did get interesting for a while because Allen's a great player and has always been a great player," Walsh said Friday. "You're 1-9 and you're thinking, 'We've got to get some help in here.' But when we rethought it and I talked to Mike and he talked to me, we feel that could hurt our development of the future, and so we want to go the way we're going.

"There will be other things we can do during the year that will be more in line with what our philosophy has been entering into this. And I want to really make it clear that this has nothing to do with Iverson. He's a great player, I've always admired him. I think he'd be a great addition for a team that is in a different position than we're in, and I hope he gets picked up."

It was unclear what the next move would be for Iverson, who was waived by the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday and became an unrestricted free agent at 6 p.m. ET Thursday.

Charlotte Bobcats coach Larry Brown has been calling NBA teams, including the Knicks, to lobby on Iverson's behalf.

Iverson has made it clear, though, that he sees himself as an NBA starter and would only be comfortable in a situation in which he would at least have an opportunity to compete for a starting position.

The Knicks easily could have plugged Iverson into their backcourt in place of struggling Chris Duhon, who also is not part of their long-term plans.

"In the beginning I didn't think it fit," Walsh said. "Then I started thinking about it, and it's enticing to think that you can get a guy that can score the ball that way. But as I went on, I started to think that he's going to take time from some of the players that we want to develop, he's probably not going to be there when the team is at its full strength down the road, and so we're better off sticking with what we've got.

"And trying to add to that, if we do, it'll be with people we think we can go forward with. Our goal this year was to develop the young players and to see which of the young veterans we have fit in to what we want to do in the future."

The Knicks never met with Iverson, instead conducting their discussions with his agent, Leon Rose.

Walsh said he would have scheduled a face-to-face meeting if the Knicks were leaning toward signing Iverson, but the situation never progressed to that point.

Walsh also realized that some Knicks fans might be disappointed by the decision to pass on Iverson, but he again reiterated that the franchise's long-term future is more important than the type of short-term fix a player of Iverson's caliber would provide.

"Yeah, I'm always concerned about that, but I don't think you can build a basketball team based on polls," Walsh said. "I hope we do the right thing, I hope the fans eventually see why we did what we did. There's always a second stage to this, and I hope it's favorable to us. In other words, 'Well, they were smart not to do that then, because now this guy's good.' So we'll see. But I did my best in trying to analyze this."

Walsh also tried to squelch speculation that the team's ownership dictated this decision.

"I think there's an idea that Mr. Dolan is calling me up and telling me what to do, and that hasn't been my experience here. I do talk to him, just like I did with my owners in Indiana, I tell him what I think we should do. There are times he plays devil's advocate, which I appreciate, to be honest with you, because sometimes you don't think things out as well as you think you do. And it usually comes down to that type of repartee. But other than that he's been very supportive 99 percent of the time."